New brand vegetables based on unique standards to undergo trial distribution in the Tokyo metropolitan area
The first step in the business partnership between the National Agriculture and Food Research Institute and cifra

Nousouken Co., Ltd. (Head office: Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture; President and CEO: Hiroshi Horiuchi; hereinafter referred to as "Nousouken") has entered into a business partnership agreement with cifra Co., Ltd. (Head office: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshiya Takekuma; hereinafter referred to as "cifra"), which operates the "Food with a Face" brand.

As the first step in the partnership, new brand vegetables based on cifra's unique product standards and evaluations to achieve high quality will be sold in supermarkets in the Tokyo metropolitan area from the summer of 2025, utilizing the network of the National Agriculture Research Institute. The aim is to provide consumers seeking high-quality food with "vegetables that reflect the passion and efforts of the producers," as well as to expand new sales channels for producers.

Background and purpose of the partnership
In response to the frequent occurrence of incidents that shook food safety, such as the BSE issue and concerns about pesticides, around the year 2000, cifra launched its "Foods with a Visible Face" series in 2002. For over 20 years since then, cifra has been communicating safety and security through the passion and dedication of its producers, and has developed agricultural, livestock and marine product brands that meet its own product standards, based on its own network of 7,500 producers nationwide, with cumulative sales exceeding 400 billion yen.

Furthermore, the Agricultural Research Institute has a vision of "realizing a sustainable agricultural industry and enriching consumers," and as a leading company in direct-from-producer distribution with the aim of building a system that will ensure that agriculture does not disappear from Japan or the world, it has developed a "farmers' direct sales business" that utilizes approximately 80 collection points nationwide to sell agricultural products directly from the source to supermarkets (more than 2,000 stores), as well as a "direct-from-producer business" that purchases agricultural products from producers, brands them, and wholesales them to supermarkets.

Through this partnership, by combining the "producer network" that cifra has built with the "wide-area sales network" of the National Agriculture and Food Research Institute, we will create a system that will enable the stable delivery of high-quality agricultural products to consumers, and will also work to build relationships of trust between Japan's excellent producers and customers.

Characteristics of new brand vegetables and operational structure
Based on cifra's own product standards, we only handle produce from producers who meet standards such as not only deliciousness as agricultural products, but also cultivation history, pesticide residue testing, traceability, and compliance with various laws and regulations.We have adopted a system that allows producer information to be viewed on product labels, the web, and smartphones, increasing consumer peace of mind and satisfaction.

Future outlook
The new brand vegetables will be evaluated comprehensively based on consumer feedback and sales data to determine whether they can be fully commercialized. After that, we will consider gradually increasing the number of target items, responding to consumer needs and expanding the number of sales outlets.